• i.e. So many of our brothers and sisters in the world face persecution for following Jesus.

Ill:

• Just recently on Palm Sunday (9 April), in northern Egypt

• 44 people died following blasts on two churches in the St. George's Coptic Orthodox church;

• In Tanta, in Gharbiya governorate in the Nile Delta region

Ill:

The Open Doors Website says (http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/trends.php)

“In some ways the 2017 World Watch List has a depressingly familiar feel. For the fourth year in a row, the level of overall persecution has risen. North Korea is still number one. Islamic extremism continues to strangle the expression of the Christian faith. Millions of Christians around the world now live their lives against varying levels of discrimination, discovery, violence and arrest…”

It goes on to say:

“Yet, there is some good news - above all, the fact that the church is growing. There has been a remarkable growth in believers from a Muslim background (BMBs), not least from those who, having encountered extreme Islam, choose Christianity instead. And all around the world, persecuted Christians are continuing to discover a depth, a strength, a brightness to their faith that can only be found in the darkest times.”